Vacant Niches and the Possible Operation of Natural Laws in Ecosystems

Title
Vacant Niches and the Possible Operation of Natural Laws in Ecosystems
Publication Date
2008
Author(s)
Rohde, Klaus
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Tilgher-Genova
Place of publication
Italy
UNE publication id
une:7073
Abstract
Woodley [2007] suggests that natural platonic laws may operate in ecosystems. He bases this claim on two kinds of "law-like behaviour" observed in nature: 1) adaptations towards specialization which can be looked at as typological lineage degeneration in which specialization makes species more sensitive to environmental perturbations; 2) occurrence of convergently evolved forms which suggest a limited number of niches or possible organismal body plans (Platonic moulds). In this paper, I critically review the evidence given by Woodley, concluding that "natural laws" may well exist in ecosystems, but that evidence for lineage degeneration as a "lawful" process in evolution from archetypes to more specialized forms which are more susceptible to environmental perturbations, and for filling of niche space, is faulty. "Vacant niche" is a valid and useful term, which draws attention to the non-saturation of niche space and non-equilibrium conditions in nature.
Link
Citation
Rivista di Biologia, 101(1), p. 13-21
ISSN
1825-6538
0035-6050
Start page
13
End page
21

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